Unexpected 1: Trojan Horse

Chapter 2: Mission

Stomachs churned, eyes darted everywhere, nerves to a crisp...yeah, even the strongest and fiercest get scared from time to time! Tan kept thinking about missing the usual "Good morning" to Bonnie, because of leaving in such a rush; Luca was trying to imitate his pops and grandpops to show strength; Hondo and Deacon could only think about their kids, especially Hondo who promised Nichelle to go to her next appointment to start the process with her ob-gyn; Street stared at Chris thinking this could be it, the day he finally lost her for good; and Chris thought of uncle Sarzo, aunt Helena and her cousins, remembering those good ol' times playing around the house and smelling those aromas from tía's kitchen. Everyone was in their own little world, remembering, imagining, and just braising themselves for what was to come.

They had fooled the front gate guard into letting them in, with a bogus excuse of a second order coming in. What they didn't know, and what seem to fit perfectly in their plans, was that in fact the criminals were expecting a large delivery that same afternoon. Just 3 minutes later, the truck came to a stop, as the driver was instructed to stop for external inspection.

"Guys turn off all monitors and anything with a chip! They are gonna inspect! Everybody hide behind the boxes! Forget about non lethal weapons. These guys are armed to their teeth", called Hicks through the earpieces.

Everyone took their place, hiding behind two 8 ft tall boxes that served as hide out four 4-ft tall cages, in case the criminals let animals loose. Out of the crew, only 4 were certified personnel from ACU, so they had to do with what they got.

They heard the silent beeping sound of the machine, as it was passed through the bottom, side and front of the truck. The driver was asked to pop the trunk but another man came rushing in giving instructions not to because what was in the cargo might 'escape'.

"Better just reverse park it, front of the cargo door. We take it from there!" the 6ft tall, husky man with deep dark eyes, a scar that went from his left eye to the bottom of his left ear, and tattoos that covered his entire neck, firmly demanded.

" Alright, guys. Here we go. Stay liquid!" Called Hondo softly.

The truck came to another halt stop, and...doors flung opened! In a matter of seconds, what seemed to be an army of men and women in blue and black sped out of the trailer and onto the property. Bullets flying everywhere, screams and noise, fighting and running...it all seemed surreal! The place was flooded with at least 15 gunmen, all with automatic riffles, and at least two rounds in each side of their waste. Out of nowhere, two drones came flying in, dropping explosives between the fights. Hondo and his team took them down, and proceeded with their plan.

Hondo had already fought what felt like 10 men, while looking up to 5, shooting round after rounds of shots. Grenades flew from one side to the other and back, exploding every 5 ft apart. At the far right side, three big cages, about 20ft tall held two tigers, three hyenas and four wild dogs. All had blood all over the floor, followed by a trail that led to the gutters that separated one from the other. All animals screeched, and roared and moved as the place was invaded by the police.

In the middle of it all, they had to pivot their plan. Luca and Tan had to leave a couple of their men to help with securing the animals and maintaining them in their cages. Sadly, two of Swaggy's crew had already been fed to the wild dogs, who barked incessantly at the intruders. Only the victims' chains and earrings were left scattered all over adjacent tables, among other materials and drugs that covered everything, even the floor. Deacon then went with three others to catch the man that was trying to escape from the front of the building, leading directly to one of the only entrance doors available. The three older gentlemen were being protected by four heavily armed guards. On the far front, Hicks reported, was a brand new Escalade, with all windows tinted pitch black.

Tan, on the other hand, took two officers and sped after three people dressed in all white suits, similar to the suits used in chemical labs and drug houses. The white suits led them to the second floor, where Tan faced the dilemma of more than 4 labs with testing animals, mixers, vaults, and what seemed to be everything you needed to feed ten drug cartels! The space was huge, and the weapons too many. Tan and his men were lucky enough that none of the members of the personnel was skilled in combat, so most surrendered almost immediately. All but two, that went running and setting up small fires.

"Stop! LAPD! Stop!" Tan yelled as the two men kept setting up fires everywhere. One of the men stopped at a corner, which seemed odd to Tan.

One of the officers stopped, and called Tan. "He's here SWAT. He's here!"

"Alright. Time to give up. No more running!"

"One more trick officer. Just one more!" and the man turned to a red button in the far corner of the wall. It was labeled 'ED'. Before anyone could say anything, the man pushed the button as hard as he could, losing his balance in the process.

Tan grabbed him, and in a matter of seconds, he thought he heard two huge explosions from up above. Tan immediately placed the cuffs on the man, as well as the other escapees and by the time they finished, almost a quarter of the floor was already in flames. As he jolted out, grabbing the man by the arm, Tan asked " What the hell is ED?"

"Emergency detonation. Boom!" the man answered, before bursting into a high pitch laugh.

"What? This place is gonna blow up!" one of the officers yelled

"20 David, we gotta evacuate the building, it's about to come down. FAST!" Tan yelled over the com

"Copy that, Tan", Hondo's eyes grew large, like TV cartoons. He panicked inside, thinking about the number of casualties there could be in a matter of minutes. But no...he had to calm himself down and lead his team. If he didn't keep calm, then nobody would. He needed to stay the course, show Buck proud. He took a deep deep breath, and pushed the button in his vest, and at the top of his lung yelled "GET OUT OF THE BUILDING. I REPEAT, EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY!"